It’s been known for some time that this year’s Red Sox are a special team. Everyone from the hopeful fans to the even-keeled manager to the mashing players have said this group could win it all.

But to find the first prediction of success, perhaps the rewind button has to go to the Boston Marathon bombings. The Red Sox were a huge force in comforting the city during that horrible time — but the event may also have been the beginning of the surety the Red Sox have shown since in their march of success.

Bob Nightengale, in a USA Today piece on how the Red Sox have bonded as a team this year, gives a story of when the team was in Cleveland right after the marathon bombings. Several players were in a taxi when it suddenly braked and everyone jerked forward.

“Careful, buddy,” Dustin Pedroia told the cabbie, according to Nightengale. “You’re carrying the 2013 World Series champs.”

Manager John Farrell agreed that the April bombings were what showed that this group was not only tight but also ready to have an amazing season.

“The next day we stood on the field for a moment of silence,” he said, “and that’s when I thought, ‘This group has got a chance to not only be special, but to do something special.

“They get it. We represent something significant in our city, and guys embrace that and relish that.”

The story has other gems of how the Red Sox have bonded this season, including how many players hang out together in their free time and how the early team bus is almost always full when it heads to an away ballpark for extra practice. It also, of course, talked about the team’s beards.

Even Jake Peavy is lauding the team he now calls his own.

“For people to tell me that clubhouse chemistry and personality doesn’t matter is an absolute joke,” he said. “I’ll fight you with every last dying breath on that. … I’ve lived it. I witnessed it. And I’m experiencing it right now. We’ve got a special chance now to show everyone ourselves.”

That chance starts Friday at 3:07 p.m. against the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Division Series. Tune in to NESN at 2 p.m. ET for pregame coverage.